A common problem encountered in the embroidery process is obtaining a finished embroidery pattern which is both properly located and properly oriented on the embroidered object. In the embroidery process, the embroidered object (which can be a garment, bag, towel, etc.) is "hooped" prior to embroidering. Specifically, the area upon which the desired embroidery is to be placed is located and secured between one hoop positioned beneath the area and another mating hoop positioned above the area and fitted within or around the first hoop. By capturing material between the hoops in this manner, the area to be embroidered is kept taut, flat, and secure during the embroidering process. Typically, one of the two hoops is provided with a fitting or jig which is secured to an embroidery machine to fix the hoop and hooped material in place in the embroidery machine.
The hooping step just described is perhaps one of the most important in the embroidery process, because incorrectly hooped objects can result in (among other undesirable results) embroidery patterns which are located improperly on the object or which are rotated in their desired location upon the object. However, because there exist so many different objects which are regularly embroidered, identifying a positioning and orienting apparatus or method which works well for many objects has been an elusive goal. Though hooping devices exist for hooping several different objects, such devices typically fail to perform well for all of the objects. For example, to properly locate and orient an embroidery pattern upon the upper left chest of a sweater, it is not sufficient to hoop the sweater as it lays on or against a level surface such as a table. Since the location and orientation of the pattern is significantly different when worn than when on the level table-like surface, it is necessary to perform the hooping operation when the sweater is draped in its normally worn position. Hooping devices which address this need are usually not well suited to orient and hoop shirt sleeves or pant legs for the hooping process. One example of such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,111, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference with regard to the framing and hooping of garments such as shirts, jackets and other shirt-like garments. Similarly, hooping devices which are used for orienting and hooping large flat items such as towels and sheets or for embroidering large patterns are often not well suited to orient and hoop jackets, pant legs, or shirt sleeves.
As an example of how hooping devices which are well designed to properly orient and hoop one type of object are typically not suitable for performing the same tasks on another type of object, reference is made hereby to U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,111 (mentioned above), hereinafter referred to as the "'111 patent". The device disclosed in the '111 patent is designed to orient and hoop garments worn over the torso, such as shirts, jackets, windbreakers, and vests. To properly orient the garment on the device, a user first places the workboard of the device in an upward garment-mounting position, and then places the garment to be hooped over the workboard. The workboard is then placed in a lower position in which the hooping process is performed. By orienting the garment in the upper position, the garment hangs as it would on a wearer, and is properly oriented for embroidering. Unfortunately, though the device disclosed in the '111 patent is well-suited for orienting and hooping garments to be worn on the torso, the large shape of the workboard is not well-suited for embroidering pant legs or shirt sleeves. Also, though the device disclosed in the '111 patent has a large work space (which is required for orienting and hooping many objects), the positions which the device can assume are limited to angles which are too steep to place many objects without causing the objects to slip down the workboard. Therefore, the device disclosed in the '111 patent, though designed and well-suited for orienting and hooping particular objects, is not well suited to perform the same operations on other objects.
For industrial users of hooping devices which are specifically designed for embroidering particular objects, having a number of various devices for orienting and hooping a variety of different objects makes economic sense. Specifically, for objects which are embroidered in large numbers, an orienting and hooping device which is specifically designed and tailored for that particular object can save a significant amount of time and money due to its specific design. However, the use of a number of different orienting and hooping devices (one for each object type) is impractical for users which do not mass-produce embroidered objects. Such users include home embroiderers, users who offer custom embroidery services who vary significantly from job to job, or users who produce a large number of different embroidered products in small quantities. These users are either left with the option of purchasing a number of hooping devices which are well-designed for orienting and hooping specific objects, or the option of using a hooping device which can be used for orienting and hooping a number of objects but which does none of them well. The first option is unacceptably expensive for most of such users. Furthermore, having a number of such devices requires a large amount of storage space. With the recent popularity of many sophisticated home embroidery systems, and as the desire for similar quality in hooping devices increases, the second option is becoming increasingly unacceptable.
Therefore, there exists a need for an apparatus and method for hooping material to be embroidered which performs this function on a number of different objects with quality comparable to devices specifically designed for each such object. Such an apparatus would be compact and easy to set up without significantly sacrificing the ease by which the orienting and hooping method is performed. The present invention provides such an apparatus and method.